


(could it be?) a moment, golden

by aghostlywonderland



Series: ❁mcnamawyer❁ [2]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Adopted Children, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Children, Established Relationship, F/F, Family, Fights, I love them ok, Light Angst, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24623875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aghostlywonderland/pseuds/aghostlywonderland
Summary: - i wanna know why i never knowset around 2001, Heather and Veronica have a young daughter. they aren't sure what's best for her (and for themselves).
Relationships: Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer
Series: ❁mcnamawyer❁ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1780327
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	(could it be?) a moment, golden

**Author's Note:**

> hi! hope you're all well. not sure where this idea came from i just love it so enjoy!  
> xx kyla  
> \- title/summary lyrics from "trouble on my mind" by the staves. <3  
> \-- this work makes references to homophobia but to the best of my judgement not explicit enough to warrant a higher rating or proper warning.

“Will you just listen?! What happens when another parent finds out and-”

“See, you’re not even thinking about her! If you really-”

“Oh, don’t you- don’t you  _ dare _ finish that sentence. You know what, I am not- I- this is not any conversation to be having in front of a kid.” Their daughter Louisa doesn’t look that bothered, but she watches intently. “She is  _ four _ , Heather. You can’t do that-”

“I can’t?  _ I- _ No, I’m not even gonna- I’m going for a walk.” She runs away. The door slams. Veronica says nothing for a minute.

“Mama?”

“What is it, baby girl?” She crosses the room and sits down next to her, letting her wrap her tiny arms most of the way around her waist and hugging her around her shoulders in return.

“Why’d Mommy go out?”

She calculates her response for longer than she’d like to admit. It’s not fair to anyone if she lets her anger get in the way, but there’s so much it’s difficult not to. “We have… a decision to make, and we have different opinions, and that means we’re mad at each other right now, so she’s gone to calm down.”

“Why?”

“Um… listen, you’re gonna learn this when you’re older, but things might be harder for us because… some people don’t think that two women- or two men- should be in love with each other. They don’t think we should be together or… or have a baby. So we have to think really hard about what’s gonna keep us safe.”

“Why not?” She’s not just asking it, she looks truly stumped, but they’ve talked about how they’re gonna tell her that, so Veronica clumsily deflects the question, asking if it’s okay if maybe they don’t have that discussion right now. “Okay, but… if you’re in love, why are you fighting?”

“You- you know how I get mad at you when you do the wrong thing? It’s like that. So I love Mommy a lot, but it’s not the same as thinking she always does the right thing.”

That seems to make sense to the little girl, who doesn’t really have anything else to ask about that, and sits quietly for a minute, hugging, thinking. Veronica combs her dark, wavy hair into some sense of normality, murmuring that it’s getting long, she needs to brush it. “Mama, why do you have me if people don’t think you should?”

“Because your mommy and I don’t care what people think. And when I told you about how we got you- do you remember the special word? Starts with an A?”

“A… abducted?”

“No, the-” she laughs for ages- “that would mean we stole you.” Lou gets why she’s laughing and joins in, asking if they did. “Of course not.”

“And if I asked Mommy, would she say the same thing?” That’s what Veronica says when she doesn’t believe her.

“Louisa Claire Sawyer, you did  _ not! _ ”

Mara gets back to them chasing each other around the living room, squealing. “What happened here?”

“Your daughter thinks she’s smarter than me!”

“And are you?”   
“Yeah I am!” She gives Veronica a look that says  _ there you have it _ and asks Louisa if she’s smarter than Mommy too. She needs a moment to think about that, but nods. “Yeah.”

“A’ight, that’s it.” She joins in, both of them running after Lou because she’s tiny and far too fast for either of them alone, Ronnie finally picking her up and Heather tickling her exposed tummy while she squeals.

“Okay. Okay, enough.” She puts her down. “Can you go play in your room for a bit? I gotta talk to Mommy, but we’ll be with you when we’re done, yeah?”

“So...”

“So.”

“Look, I’m- I’m sorry. I was talking to her, and you’re right, I was… I was only thinking about the two of us, and that, keeping us safe, I…” Her voice cracks a little, and she stops to bite her lip, trying not to cry. “I got that from you, darling. But this is about Louisa, and what I saw as, as that safety… wasn’t ever gonna work for her. So-” she stops, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, “-yeah.”

She goes to sit down, but Heather stops her, grabbing her hand and pulling her back to hug each other as tight as they can, just standing in the middle of the floor. “Hey, I love you. And I’m sorry I got so mad at you, I shouldn’t have said… any of that.”

“I know you are. I love you too, my sunshine. And out of… the whole world, there’s nobody she’d be luckier to have.”

“She has you, doesn’t she?”

They both smile at that. Mara puts a hand on Veronica’s cheek, kissing her quick and gentle. “Oh God, we have to talk to her now, don’t we?”

They follow each other to the bedroom they painted together years ago, pausing just outside to make sure they’re on the same page. Heather sits on the floor and Veronica stands for a moment longer, drifting, before she settles on the bed behind her, asking Lou what she’s drawing. Flowers, like those ones, the vase of sunflowers constant on the table across from the door. It’s cute that’s what she thought to do. “Listen, I know you probably have a lot of questions. And- and I wanna say you can ask us any of them. But we had a big choice to make, and we-” she looks at Heather, who nods her encouragement, and back at Louisa “-decided that if you’re okay with it, you’re gonna go to a real school. It wouldn’t be right not to let you.”

“But we do need to talk about some things,” Mara picks up. “Very serious things. Because I know you know we need to be careful. But… that’s for another time, if you want. Excited, bubba?”

“Yeah!” She jumps up and runs to hug her, following her instruction not to forget about Mama.

“We love you so much, baby girl.” Veronica kisses the top of her head and looks over her shoulder. “Hey, hey. C’mere, you.” As if she was just waiting for the invitation, she gets up and cuddles with them, saying something in Veronica’s ear that makes her cover her mouth so she doesn’t laugh. And this- this is the best thing, to both of them.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it! if you did, let me know- it would make my day! :) you can find me on instagram @kylawoodarts


End file.
